Dobbe, Theodorus (Theo).

Dobbe, Theodorus “Theo”, born 19-03-1901, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Before the war, Dobbe was the chief representative of a linoleum factory and a devout Catholic, and after the capitulation, he emerged as one of the most restless and versatile figures in the resistance. As early as the summer of 1940, he committed his first act of resistance by smuggling weapons, ammunition, and explosives out of the fortified town of Naarden with a few companions, including the Bussum pharmacist Gerardus Adrianus Reeskamp, who mainly used the aliases ‘Harry’ or ‘Dr. Rienstra’ in Friesland from 1941, his son Gerard A. Reeskamp, Hendrik Joseph “Henry” Vroom, and Joannes Aloysius “Jan” van Straelen. From the Reeskamp action group, the Dobbe Group emerged. This resistance group (which, by the way, had a changing composition) engaged in espionage, sabotage, helped Jewish fugitives, and contributed to the distribution of the illegal magazine Vrij Nederland. On 14-05-1941, Amsterdam-Zuid was shaken by an explosion: the Dobbe group had blown up a villa on Bernard Zweerskade where German officers were housed. Presumably, there were no casualties, but the damage was significant. A few days later (on June 3), however, a second attack was carried out, this time on the Luftwaffe telephone exchange at Schiphol; this resulted in a seriously injured person. Whether Dobbe was involved in this is not known. Perhaps indirectly.

The German reprisals for both attacks were, however, terrible. During a raid, three hundred Jews were arrested and sent directly to the Mauthausen concentration camp, where they soon perished.

Such reprisals in the form of persecution of innocent civilians were almost a standard response from the occupiers to acts of resistance and caused immense moral anguish for the underground; however, it did not prevent most from continuing their struggle. So too Dobbe and his comrades.

Arrest and hiding Dobbe was eventually lured into a trap by Anton van der Waals,

who during World War II, was a spy for the German Sicherheitsdienst (SD). Van der Waals certainly made 83 victims and played a leading role in the Englandspiel, which cost the lives of many Dutch secret agents from England. He was imprisoned in Scheveningen and later transferred to a prison in Utrecht, from which he managed to escape. He had to go into hiding and found shelter in Friesland in an abandoned hunting lodge near Oranjewoud, not far from Heerenveen. Others soon joined him there, such as redsistance man Gerrit Kleinveld, known for his escape from the bunker of Camp Amersfoort. Kleinveld married Gijsbertha van Voorthuizen on 20 -07-1937, and had three sons. In 2006, Kleinveld passed away at the age of 91.

In 1945, Van de Waals moved to Zuidlaren. He reported to the Canadian Field Security, who handed him over to the British Special Counterintelligence. He was deployed by Louis Einthoven,   head of the Bureau of National Security, to infiltrate Germany, but was extradited to the Netherlands in 1947. In 1948, he was brought before the Court of Appeal in The Hague. Van der Waals is often referred to as the greatest Dutch traitor of World War II. The outcome of his trial between April 1948 and January 1950 was that there was sufficient evidence of his guilt in the arrest of 83 resistance fighters in German hands, of whom at least 34 were executed. Experts are convinced that the number of people delivered by Van der Waals to the SD is many times higher. He was sentenced to death, age 37 and executed at the Waalsdorpervlakte on 26-01-1950.

The group developed a new plan: a raid on the distribution office in Joure, where ration cards for the region were issued. Taking advantage of the knowledge that irregularities had occurred at the office, Dobbe and two employes donned gendarmerie uniforms on 14-10-1942, and demanded the entire coupon stock along with the accompanying administration. The ‘heist’ was remarkably successful; the coupons (which were only valid for four weeks, by the way) were distributed in Amsterdam. Ultimately, a reward of 10,000 guilders was offered for anyone who could provide a tip that would lead to the perpetrators.

However, too many people had been involved in the preparation, which led the Sicherheitspolizei to get on the trail, and most of them were arrested. Strangely enough, they were left mostly undisturbed, as the police were only interested in Dobbe. Dobbe went into hiding this time with the Burgers family on Waschweg in Velp and was not found.

After a few months, he returned to illegal work. At the beginning of 1944, he was approached by the leadership of the National Assault Groups to take over part of the organization, for which he traveled thru Southern Netherlands. Landelijke Knokploegen or LKP is the name of a resistance organization that was founded by the National Organization for Aid to Escapers (LO).

Death and burial ground of Dobbe, Theodorus (Theo).

With his own action group, he was particularly involved in the liquidation of traitors. His last action on September 5 (Crazy Tuesday) cost him his life in 1944, however. Theodorus “Theo” tried to liquidate the collaborator Johnny de Droog on behalf of his deceased friend Jan van Straelen and was arrested. Ultimately, he was shot dead by the German Sicherheitsdienst that same day at the estate ‘t Hof in Dieren (Gelderland). With that, the entire group from Bussum was eliminated.By Royal Decree No. 21 of 11-09-1951, he was posthumously inscribed in the register of the Military William Order, and he was awarded the Knight’s Cross 4th class for his deeds during World War II. In Amsterdam, the Theodorus Dobbestraat  is named after him, in Velp the Theodorus Dobbeweg, and in Lent (Nijmegen) the Theo Dobbestraat.

The Jesuit Jan ten Berge, who was involved in the work of the group, wrote a condolence letter to the widow of Theo Dobbe after the war, which was then published. Theodore “Theo” Dobbe is buried at the Rooms-Katholieke Begraafplaats Buitenveldert Roman Catholic Cemetery Buitenveldert Zuidas, Amsterdam Municipality, North Holland, Netherlands. Plot Section B, Row 1, Grave 352.

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